Legends & Loot

part the second

Serafine’s healing song caused ominous rumbles throughout the lost city as the party headed into the time of Amdin. Passing the remains of an apparent digging crew, they headed into the antechamber where they encountered a colossal stone avatar of the dead emperor, who came to life, demanding “the singer of the song must return what was stolen.”

Sensing that this meant the amulet, they attempted to barter and return it, only to be rebuffed and attacked. Some quick thinking allowed Cypress’ owl companion to reinstall the amulet on the statue’s chest, deactivating it and opening the door to Amdin’s tomb (but not before Wulfa found himself punted out of the chamber and into the valley below).

Entering the tomb, the party found the emperor’s sarcophagus open and most of his treasure already looted. Pinned to the mummy’s chest was a mysterious note:

“My brothers, I fear we have made a terrible mistake, for the forces with which we deal are beyond our control. And so I have removed the Axe of Conquest to a place of safekeeping from which I hope it is never recovered. I ask not for pardon as I know there is none, and I await your vengeance. Signed: Schmedrick.”

In the remaining treasure the party found a strange magic book and a box of chocolate eggs.

part the first

(Cypress awakens with a start from a dream in which a strange gyroscopic orb rolls up to Wulfa in the desert, foreshadowing something).

Having slogged through the mountains and braved the treacherous desert, our party finally arrived at the fabled Lost City of Jelasco, hewn into the living rock of a tall cliff formation. After navigating the cavernous streets of the dead city, they finally reached the tomb of Amdin, legendary king of the East, who repelled the invading hordes of goat-riding barbarians from the Southwest and wrested the very Axe of Conquest from the hands of their leader Malthus (one of Wulfa’s ancestors).

There they were greeted by a pair of unfriendly Dust Devils and a smart mouthed talking statue, and pursued by an unseen shambling horror before reaching the antechamber of the royal tomb and defeating a squad of mummified bodyguards. Having fallen in battle, Cypress made a Deal with Death before being revived by the magical music of Serafine. But the song seemed to cause strange and unsettling rumbles throughout the halls…

Session the 2nd

After leaving the ruins of the Floating Tower, Wulfa the Melancholy, Treerat and Cypress headed East to the mountain city of Banor’s Pass, where they met Titanius and Serafine at a tavern where the latter was performing. Trouble struck when Wulfa’s friend Gery the Monk stumbled into the bar with a dagger in his back, clutching a mysterious and valuable half-mask amulet and muttering something about the Halls of Jelasco as he expired in Wulfa’s arms, accidentally incriminating the barbarian.

Serafine distracted the angry crowd with a song for the dead, allowing the others to flee. They met up at the local Loratorium of Loremaster Eleglil Half-Half-Elven/Half-Halfling, who refused to identify the amulet but admonished them to return the accursed thing to the desert. As they left the shop, Titanius noticed a group of shadowy loiterers who disappeared into the shadows.

As Serafine’s great-grandfather Schmedrick the Bard had once told tales of the mysterious and ancient desert city of Jelasco, the party set out to seek their fortunes. While heading south out of the mountains they encountered an attempted ambush by ruffians seeking the amulet and the bard. The bandits were dispatched after a short battle and shapeshifting catastrophe in which a hungover Cypress transformed into an enraged ostrich, terrifying the last few archers into surrender, after which they claimed to be mere henchmen and identified their now-dead clients as belonging to the Order of the Blind Eye.

The party continued their journey towards the desert…

It was also revealed that Wulfa’s people come from the southwest and ride goats.

Session the 1st

Cypress, Treerat and Wulfa met in an unnamed town, where Wulfa killed someone after being framed by Treerat for stealing silverware. Cypress tagged along in anticipation of the mayhem which he believed follows the big guy.

Pursued by the local constabulary to a rocky beach, the trio fled into the Floating Tower in search of rumored loot. Once inside they slew a flock of harpies and a formidable wyvern while assiduously ignoring/destroying clues to the magical history of the place before discovering the Glass of Seeing.

Cypress destroyed this rare artifact (though not before his companions used it to attain Visions of Foreboding) and dispelled the spirit of the Watcher, whose fading magic held the tower together. Cypress was able to absorb the essence of the dead wyvern and take on its form, flying the trio to safety as the Tower collapsed upon the hapless gendarmes.